Device for the production of visual displays

Claim 1

VISUAL DISPLAY APPARATUS COMPRISING AN ARRAY OF A LARGE NUMBER OF CLOSELY SPACED DISPLAY ELEMENTS FORMING INDIVIDUAL ELEMENTARY PARTS OF, AND TOGETHER CONSTITUTING, A VISUAL DISPLAY SCREEN, SAID ELEMENTS BEING INDIVIDUALLY OF SUCH SMALL SIZE RELATIVE TO THE SIZE OF THE SCREEN THAT AT NORMAL VIEWING DISTANCE THE ELEMENTS ARE RELATIVELY IMPERCEPTIBLE AS INDIVIDUAL ELEMENTS AND ARE OBSERVED AS MERGING PARTS OF THE OVERALL SCREEN, SAID ELEMENTS EACH COMPRISING A MOVABLE DEVICE HAVING A SURFACE WHICH BEARS AT LEAST ONE PREDETERMINED COLOR VALUE AND WHICH IS EXPOSABLE FOR OBSERVATION TO DETERMINE THE COLOR VALUE PRESENTED BY THE ELEMENT AS ITS ELEMENTAL PART OF THE SCREEN, AND EACH HAVING MEANS OF A DIFFERENT PREDETERMINED COLOR VALUE FOR MASKING AT LEAST A PORTION OF SUCH SURFACE WHILE EXPOSING ANOTHER PORTION, MEANS FOR INDIVIDUALLY ACTUATING THE SEVERAL DEVICES TO INDIVIDUALLY SELECTED POSITIONS TO INDIVIDUALLY SELECT THE COLOR VALUES PRESENTED BY THE RESPECTIVE ELEMENTS FOR OBSERVATION AS ELEMENT PARTS OF THE SCREEN AND THEREBY TO CREATE ON THE SCREEN ANY DESIRED DESIGN COMPOSED IN ITS ELEMENTAL PARTS OF THE COLOR VALUES OBTAINABLE BY SUCH ACTUATION OF THE SEVERAL DISPLAY ELEMENTS CONSTITUTING THE DISPLAY SCREEN.